Research output per year
Research output per year
Laura Watts is an ethnographer of futures whose research explores the effect of 'edge' landscapes on how the future is imagined and made, as well as methods for writing futures otherwise. As an Science & Technology Studies (STS) and interdisciplinary scholar, she has collaborated on energy futures for the past decade in the Orkney islands, Scotland. Her latest book Energy at the End of the World: an Orkney Islands Saga (MIT Press) won the 4S Rachel Carson Prize, was Shortlisted for the Saltire Research Book of the Year, and Longlisted for the Highland Book Prize. In 2017 she won the International Cultural Innovation Prize with the Reconstrained Design Group for a community-built energy storage device designed from scrap parts. She welcomes collaborations across academia, policy, industry, and local communities.
Science & Technology Studies (STS); Anthropology of Energy; Ethnography of Futures; Marine Renewable Energy; Writing Methods; Speculative Fabulation; Island Studies; Infrastructure Studies; Energy Futures; Energy & Data Convergence.
I'm interested in mentoring and supervising research students and postgraduates in the following areas: novel empirical writing methods, feminist and postcolonial STS, energy and tech industry ethnography, speculative futures and fabulation, edge landscapes and their infrastructures. Please do read my work to understand my writing approach and commitments to collaborative practice in advance of contacting me.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Research output: Book/Report › Book
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Laura Watts (Invited speaker)
Activity: Academic talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Laura Watts (Invited speaker)
Activity: Academic talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Laura Watts (Organiser)
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Public Engagement – Public lecture/debate/seminar
Laura Watts (Organiser)
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Public Engagement – Public lecture/debate/seminar
Laura Watts (Keynote speaker)
Activity: Academic talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Watts, Laura (Recipient), Aug 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Watts, L. & Bonnet, P.
1/01/18 → 31/12/18
Project: Research Collaboration with external organisation
Suzanne Ewing, David Farrier & Laura Watts
27/10/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
14/06/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
14/06/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research
6/02/19 → 27/03/19
3 items of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
30/01/19 → 7/02/19
3 Media contributions
Press/Media: Research